Topic: Tara VanDerveer

The excitement of “Selection Monday” is over. ESPN unveiled the NCAA tournament field and Stanford supporters are hyped about the Cardinal (29-3) being a No. 2 seed. You can thank Washington for that. According to Carolayne Henry, the Division I women’s basketball committee chair, Stanford’s one loss against an opponent with a low…

After Washington freshman G Kelsey Plum’s performance in an upset against No. 3 Stanford on Sunday and consistency this season, I wondered whether the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association would make her part of the 10 players added by the WBCA on Monday to the “Wade Watch” list. UW junior Jazmine Davis was…

The Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota, in partnership with tptMN, will debut a groundbreaking documentary that uses research to examine the amount and type of coverage given to female athletes.

Those entrenched in girls and women in sport are far too aware of the disappointing numbers. As found by the Tucker Center, while 40 percent of all sports participants are female, women’s sports receive only 2-4 percent of all sport media coverage. The center also found most female athletes are more likely than male athletes to be portrayed in sexually provocative poses.

The Seattle Times is even guilty of following the norm. Tough decisions made for travel and space are often gauged on attendance.

History won’t be televised, again. Mass exposure is probably the last nugget to change in Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer’s storied career. She’ll aim for her 899th and 900th career wins in Mexico as part of the Hardwood Tournament of Hope this week.

When VanDerveer reaches the milestone, she’ll join an elite circle of five coaches to reach 900 or more career wins in former Tennessee coach Pat Summitt (1,098), North Carolina’s Sylvia Hatchell (908), Rutgers’ C. Vivian Stringer (905) and former Texas coach Jody Conradt (900).

VanDerveer has led the Cardinal to 26 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and six consecutive 30-win seasons. The Card is the 13-time Pac-12 champion, winning the regular-season and conference tournament titles seven years in a row. Last season Stanford was a regular-season co-champion with Cal.

“She’s a legacy, she has an amazing legacy,” Washington State coach June Daughertytold the Associated Press. “She has mentored so many of us. I don’t think she gets enough of her due for what she’s done for Stanford basketball — Pac-8, Pac-10, Pac-12. She’s been innovative about her game. She is a first-class act.”

In speaking about the women’s basketball game for a feature on Pac-12 Networks, VanDerveer said the growth is beyond what she imagined. She also teased that her dad said she could never make a career out of basketball. Glad she was a rebel from the start.

HUSKIES LOSE: UW lost its 14th consecutive game against Stanford, 71-36 before 1,911 fans at Alaska Airlines Arena. The Card used an early 23-2 run to decide the outcome before halftime. Williams was impressive inside, finishing with team highs in points (10) and rebounds (13). It made you wonder what would have happened if the Huskies had Walton to help in the paint. But, there’s next season when even more enforcements in the post arrive. Or Walton could get her chance in the Pac-12 tournament. McGuff tried crowding Ogwumike defensively, admitting his team isn’t quick enough to guard against the All-American and stop Stanford’s three-point outburst. But Ogwumike has seen it all and remained impressive. She totaled her 23rd double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds. VanDerveer was upset at the suspensions and her team not getting much production out of anyone outside of Orrange and Ogwumike. Samuelson helped put the game away early with her four three-pointers then was 1 of 11 from the range to end the game. Kingma described Stanford’s defense as deceptively physical and she was knocked around a bit. She was 1 of 15 from the field. Wetmore also didn’t shoot well (1-for-11) but her and the team have been off offensively lately. The three players who don’t normally see minutes collectively didn’t contribute much. Gilling had the best game to show her steady progress this season. She finished with six points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes. Davis, Walton and Meeks will be back in the lineup and in their usual places for Saturday’s season finale against No. 6 Cal. I’m not ashamed to share my love of the Golden Bears, but they’re looking a little cuddly. Oregon State lost by a bucket to Cal last week and Washington State managed a respectable 13-point defeat against California at home on Thursday. With the suspended players getting a sneaky rest, who knows? UW (19-9, 11-6 Pac-12) drops to fifth in conference standings. Stanford (27-2, 16-1) remains tied with Cal for the regular-season conference title and travels to play at WSU on Saturday. Seeding for the Pac-12 tournament will be announced Sunday. For the first time it’ll be held in Seattle at KeyArena from March 7-10.

About Women’s Hoops

Jayda Evans covers college and pro women's basketball. She'll offer observations, critiques, occasional off-beat tales and answers to select e-mail inquires. Evans also has written a book on the Storm and women's hoops, called "Game On!" You can email Jayda or follow her on Twitter.